Optigo Biotherapeutics has appointed Andreas Wallnöfer, PhD, MBA, to its Board of Directors as the company moves its lead program toward Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling studies.¹

Wallnöfer has spent more than 2 decades working in pharmaceutical research and biotechnology investing.¹ Previously, he served a partner at Jeito Capital, where he helped lead the firm’s early backing of EyeBio—later purchased by Merck in 2024.¹ Prior to that, he served as a general partner at BioMedPartners.¹

Earlier in his career, he held senior research and development (R&D) roles at F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, including serving on the R&D executive leadership team as global head of clinical research and exploratory development and head of cardiovascular and metabolism R&D.¹ During this period, he contributed to the integration of Roche and Genentech and supported the development of faricimab-svoa (Vabysmo).¹ His academic background includes a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Basel, completing a clinical fellowship at the University of Leiden, and earning an executive MBA from IMD Lausanne.¹

“Optigo’s hyaluronic acid (HA)-anchoring platform is one of the most promising innovations in retinal drug design that I’ve seen. Its unprecedented half-life extension has the potential to redefine treatment durability and transform the standard of care in the treatment of retinal diseases," Wallnöfer said.¹

Ali Ardakani, Optigo’s co-founder and chief executive officer, told the Eye Care Network that bringing Wallnöfer on board comes at an important moment for the company’s development.

“For patients who live in fear of losing their vision, every new advance matters,” Ardakani said. “Reaching the IND-enabling stage brings us one step closer to a long-acting therapy that could ease that burden and change what’s possible for millions of people.

“Our preclinical data show that Optigo’s platform can keep therapeutic levels in the eye for far longer than existing treatments, potentially up to 12 months,” he added. “That durability is what patients have been waiting for—fewer injections, less anxiety, and more time living with clear vision instead of planning around appointments. It’s about restoring not just sight, but freedom and peace of mind.”

The company’s main drug candidate—a long-lasting anti-VEGF treatment (XPK-640)—is moving toward pre-IND work and Good Laboratory Practice safety testing for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).¹ This milestone for Optigo’s lead product candidate means that the company will be able to enter the clinic with this new class of anti-VEGF product within 12 to 15 months, Houman David Hemmati, MD, PhD, co-founder and chief medical officer of Optigo Biotherapeutics, told the Eye Care Network.

“The greatest unmet need for patients with chronic retinal neovascular diseases has been reducing the intravitreal injection burden,” Hemmati added. “XPK-640 has the potential to be the first drug that addresses this need without the safety risks or efficacy concerns of devices, gene therapies, injectable polymers, or small molecule kinase inhibitors.”

The recently completed cynomolgus monkey PK and tolerability studies demonstrated that XPK-640 has the potential to extend the durability of aflibercept (Eylea; Regeneron) by at least 10-fold, according to Hemmati. In patients, this could extend dosing intervals to once a year or perhaps even less frequently, likely without the burden and compliance risks of monthly loading doses, Hemmati added.

What was the spark?

When asked what the driving force was for establishing the company for this research, Ardakani shared the story of his grandmother.

“My grandmother was healthy and active into her 70s, but when she developed wet AMD, everything changed,” Ardakani told the Eye Care Network. “She soon faced monthly injections into her eye simply to try to preserve her vision. What many people don’t realize is that these treatments often become a lifelong commitment—some patients endure injections for 20 years to maintain sight.”

Ardakani added that real-world data show that nearly 40% of eyes discontinue treatment (ie, patients give up) due to the burden after the first year.²

“My grandmother’s wish was always simple: to find a treatment she could receive once a year, instead of every month,” he added. “To her, that wasn’t just convenience—it was the chance to live without the constant stress of scheduling, travelling for injections, worrying about the next shot. And for many patients like her, losing vision slowly means losing independence, then memory, then quality of life. She kept telling me: ‘If I can get a shot once a year and keep my sight, that would make all the difference.’”

REFERENCES

1. Renowned pharma and biotech development leader, Dr. Andreas Wallnöfer, is named to Optigo Biotherapeutics’ Board of Directors as the company advances to IND-enabling studies. News release. November 4, 2025. Accessed November 5, 2025. https://www.optigobio.com/press-release-2025-11-04

2. Khurana RN. Overcoming the wet AMD treatment gap. Modern Retina. June 17, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2025. https://www.modernretina.com/view/overcoming-the-wet-amd-treatment-gap